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Ozturk named new Hearts captain

Date published: Monday 24th August 2015 1:16

As skipper, Ozturk replaces fellow centre-back Danny Wilson, who left the club at the end of last and has since joined Rangers.
He will captain the side just over 12 months since the joining from Turkish club Trabzonspor. Ozturk quickly established himself as a regular in the Hearts back four, playing 33 times and scoring four goals as Robbie Neilson’s men dominated the Championship.
At just 22 years old, he will be the youngest captain in the Scottish Premiership next year. It might be a big weight to carry on such young shoulders, but Ozturk is keen to use his new role help other youngsters develop.
He said: “Robbie spoke to me about responsibility and stuff like that. I’m looking forward to passing on my experience and knowledge. I love to help the young players.
“I’ll do that and I tried that last year as well. I’ll do it now a little bit more. When I was young, I was always happy when the players helped me. I will try and do that now.”
Ozturk has enjoyed plenty of success since arriving in Edinburgh last summer. As well as helping his side storm to the Championship title ahead of Rangers and Hibernian, the former Turkey Under-21 international was also nominated for the league’s player of the year award.
Another of his fondest memories in a maroon jersey will be the last-minute equaliser he scored against Edinburgh rivals Hibs from all of 35 yards in October.
But he says the compliment of being made Hearts captain outranks all of the above: “It is the proudest moment of my career. There have been a few good moments but this one is a really, really big thing for me.
“It’s a really proud moment for me,” he said. “I’m honoured to be captain of a club like Hearts, a really big club. I’m really proud.
“I’ve now got more responsibility, but I will do everything to represent Hearts as good as possible.”